If a Knicks roster spot opens up this week with either Cuttino Mobley’s retirement or the release of Stephon Marbury, president Donnie Walsh said the Knicks have two trade exceptions to use to obtain a shooting guard through a deal.
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The Knicks can trade the exception to another team for a player making the salary of what the trade exception is worth. It is believed the exception is in the $1 million range, which means the player would have to be making in the minimum-wage vicinity.
Nevertheless, it gives the Knicks more options than signing a D-League shooting guard. On Dec. 15, teams can trade the rookie contracts of the players they drafted last summer. If a team is looking to shed one of its second-round picks or late first rounders, the Knicks would be in position to get that player. Walsh said the club has been reviewing the rosters of teams.
The Knicks gained one exception from the Renaldo Balkman trade over the summer and gained a second exception in the Mobley/Tim Thomas deal in which the Knicks gave up Mardy Collins and Zach Randolph.
Walsh said he plans to meet with Mobley this week after all the heart tests are in. Mobley visited Dr. Barry Maron, an expert on hypertrophic cardiomyopathy that claimed the lives of Hank Gathers and Reggie Lewis.
“It’s his health, it’s his call,” Walsh said. “If he says the doctors OK’d me, and I want to go, then we have to make our decision.”
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Nate Robinson (groin) sat out. . . . David Lee (12 points, 19 rebounds) recorded his ninth consecutive double double. He is the first Knick since Patrick Ewing in 1995 to accomplish that feat.